Just In : Four corruption accused AAZ bosses fired

Harare- THE Automobile Association of Zimbabwe (AAZ) has fired four provincial directors Tuesday over allegations of corrupt activities and failure to justify findings unearthed in an audit, Express Mail Zim can reveal.

The four are Mashonaland Chapter director Amos Mtandwa,Bulawayo chapter director identified only as Sibanda,Midlands chapter director identified as Gumbo and the fourth director’s identity could not be easily availed at the time of publishing.

The dismissals follow a detailed report published by Express Mail Zim last week where stakeholders stormed out of a branch meeting in Newlands demanding the presentation of audited financials.

The closed door meeting saw stakeholders accusing the ‘magnificent four’ (as they were popularly called by staffers) of being bishops of rampant corruption that had seen corruption literally normalised at the supposed non profit making organisation.

The four were accused of looting funds and abusing the constitution which stipulates that they were to serve for only two years, but most of them have been in control for 10 years.

“There is cartel of four guys led by Mtandwa and they award themselves hefty perks.

“For instance they give the staff ZWL3 million as grocery allowance since the organisation considers them as voluntary workers and they go behind the back and pocket USD3000 each.

“So when auditors come they misrepresent and inflate figures claiming that they have given voluntary workers allowances of grocery, school fees and so on.
“In November they took home bonuses of USD6000 each and gave workers USD 900 across the board,” said our inside source last week.

When contacted for comment last week , the Mashonaland chapter president Mtandwa confirmed the adjournment of the meeting over sticking issues involving presentation of financials but he said they wanted to give stakeholders time to peruse the finacial statements sent to them via email.

“We are a very transparent entity religiously publishing audited financial statements every year on public platforms including our website and holding AGMs timeously.

“The financials are also emailed to members ahead of the AGMs. The meeting you are referring to as aborted is a branch committee meeting and there is no obligation in terms of our governance structures to discuss nor publish financial statements at Branch AGMs. However, we have traditionally provided these at our meetings and it was in that spirit that when members asked for an adjournment so they could get time to look at them, the request was acceded to.

” Some members had not received emails on time due to email challenges experienced by the Association, but these were available on the website,” Mtandwa told Express Mail Zim then.

However, with the current state of affairs, it is apparent that the board found them wanting and the financials were in shambles.

It was unearthed that the that the Mashonaland chapter overpriced the purchase of three trucks among other irregularities where auditors noted lack of due diligence.

“The board had no option but to dismiss the four guys in line with championing stakeholder interests,” said one of our multiple sources privy to the goings on.

The board chairman could not be reached for comment at the time of writing and Mtandwa had made it clear that the organisation do not solve issues through the media in the previous discourse.

AAZ is a non-profit organisation whose mandate is to offer roadside assistance, vehicle inspections, vehicle valuations, technical advice, Legal advice and defence, emergency hotel expenses and many more.

Its membership is comprised of big companies and it is subscriber based meaning they rake in a lot of money monthly.